Hallelujah - it is soup season. I’ve pulled out my snuggly flannel pajamas, switched over the thermostat to ‘heat,’ and moved my Dutch oven from the pantry to the stovetop. I am a sucker for soup. When I was working in a restaurant, one of my favorite daily activities was making the soup of the day. Earlier this week when Neil mentioned that soup would be nice for dinner, I was all in.
The beginning of the Season of Soup inevitably reminds me of a conversation I had with a delightful woman over a decade ago. When my husband and I first moved to Fallon, I always looked forward to the articles regularly contributed to the Lahontan Valley News by Edna Van Leuven. Edna wrote narratives about her comings and goings around town, her experiences raising her family, and tales of her great love affair. Sometimes, she would talk about visiting restaurants and how they delighted or dismayed her. When Edna stopped in for lunch at The Slanted Porch, I definitely wanted to stay on her good side. I was introduced by one of the restaurant owners as the new Sous Chef. Edna may have misheard, because she immediately launched into a story about how she could have been a Soup Chef, too as her family was always asking her to cook up a delicious pot of soup. In retrospect, the title of Soup Chef would have been perfectly appropriate. Every year around this time, I assume my Soup Chef mantle and prepare my cauldron for some delicious, bubbling broths.
There are so many great things about soup. Soup can be extremely simple featuring only a few ingredients or can be an all-day project including everything but the kitchen sink. Typically, you only need one pot to make soup, which means dinner cleanup is a breeze. Also, it is easy to make a large batch ensuring that you have ample leftovers for lunches or to turn into an entirely different soup. Hearty Vegetable Soup can easily become Minestrone or Southwestern Chicken Soup or Beef Barley Soup. Whatever kind of soup you are making, my advice is the same. Think about making your soup the same way that you would construct a building, start with a solid foundation, and build layers of flavor.
For many soups, a good choice for a solid flavor base is a standard mirepoix (2 parts yellow or white onion, 1 part celery, and 1 part carrot) cut into chunks. Sweat your vegetables over medium-low heat in butter or oil, add some minced garlic and a couple of bay leaves and you are on your way. From this flavor foundation, you can branch off into a myriad of different soups. This week, I made a tasty Portuguese-style potato, linguica, and kale soup. Followed by a lentil soup with apples and andouille sausage. Both were exactly the type of hearty, stick-to-your-ribs soup that I was craving.
Linguica, Potato, and Kale Soup
INGREDIENTS:
2 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 package linguica, diced
1 qt chicken stock
2 packets gelatin
1 c water
4-6 yellow potatoes, cut into cubes
1 bunch curly green kale, stems removed and torn or cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot or Dutch oven, sweat onion in oil over medium heat until translucent. Add potatoes and sausage and continue to cook for a few minutes. Add chicken stock and stir to combine. Add water as needed to cover ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
In a separate bowl, mix together gelatin and water. Let sit until fully “bloomed” then dissolve gelatin by adding some liquid from the soup pot. Once the gelatin is dissolved, pour into the soup pot.
Simmer until potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, or a blender, puree some of the potatoes and liquid together then pour back into the soup.
Add kale into the soup and simmer until soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper and enjoy.
Lentil Soup with Apples and Smoked Sausage
INGREDIENTS:
4 T unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 ribs of celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and diced (divided)
16 oz dry hard cider
1 lb andouille (or other smoked sausage), cut into ½” thick rounds
2 c lentils
4 c water
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sliced green onions for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a Dutch oven. Add onion, sweat over medium heat until translucent. Add celery, garlic, and half of the diced apples. Continue to cook stirring regularly until veggies are soft.
Add in cider. Your soup will get super bubbly. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Add in sausage, lentils, and water. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer until lentils are soft (about 35-40 minutes). Add water as needed to achieve your desired consistency.
Puree some lentils with cooking liquid to thicken your soup a little. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sliced green onions and remaining diced apple. Enjoy.
Kelli Kelly -Slinger of Produce. Slurper of Dumplings. Person of the Bean.
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